


A Trip To The Librarby : [Requests Collection]

by ReaderRose



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drabble Collection, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Mystery, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Undertale Neutral Route - Empress Undyne Ending, Post-Undertale Soulless Pacifist Route, Pre-Canon, Propaganda, Recreational Drug Use, Requests, Smoking, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2018-09-28 16:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10135802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaderRose/pseuds/ReaderRose
Summary: A request collection.Requests are currently open! (However, completed prompts will be very slow! Like... a year kind of slow.)2 : Doggo gets lost chasing something through the forest3 : The Empress prepares for war, and the kingdom prepares.4 : The Green Soul Child Meets The Royal Scientist5 : Frisk gets voicemail6 : Undyne goes grocery shopping





	1. INDEX

Alright, so I've been thinking about this for a bit and it sounds potentially fun. I like doing little one shots and drabbles or just jotting down single scenes, but I'm usually not too full of ideas. Most of my ideas can be summarized with two words: “sad skeletons.”

So, I'll be opening up requests! None of these will be very long, and I'll be doing them mainly when I'm stuck on my main WIPs but an still in the mood to write, so updates may be a bit slow and sporadic.

 

**RULES:**

 

  * **_**_I will only accept requests made on this chapter._**_**  


  * Updates will be very slow probably.
  * I'm going to keep it to PG-13 and below. If there is an idea that involves more mature themes that I _really_ want to do, which I know would not fly as PG-13, I'll post it separately. However, for the most part I'd prefer not to do that.
    * Chapters will have warnings at the start when applicable.


  * ****No -cest of any kind.****


  * **No underage ships.**


    * (Exception: AU where Asriel didn't die or AU where Asriel was restored as a moody young adult. No other age-ups are exceptions.)


  * ****No Reader.****


  * I will be updating this chapter with a list of all filled requests and additional info, for convenience.



 

**GENERAL GUIDELINES:**

  * Expanding on the content thing, if it happens in the game, I'm probably going to give it a pass for content. IE: body horror, blood, child murder, suicide, etc. None of that is out of place in the setting, so I don't feel uncomfortable with it being in the main collection. It would have warnings though, obviously.
  * There are very few things that make me uncomfortable to read, but there are things that make me uncomfortable to actively write myself. Feel free to ask if you think an idea might be iffy! If it's a no, I'll let you know. No judgment!
  * Chances are I will never write any outright explicit content of any kind.
  * I'm always going to favor gen fic, but romance is acceptable. I actually _love_ rare pairs and crack ships, so feel free to request them. Just know that I have no idea what a romance is and have never seen one in my life.
  * I prefer AUs that are closer to canon. Deitale, handplates, Inverted Fate, bad brother, the AU where Sans is switched with Burgerpants, things like that. You can request any AU you want, established or not, but I might turn it down if I don't know it well or don't like it. If it's a small change or a role swap I'm probably all for it.
  * Underfell is my guilty pleasure. Feel free to request it.
  * Crossovers might be okay if I'm familiar with the other universe. I won't list any possibilities, but feel free to ask.



And I think that's it! I may update this list with more guidelines of it comes up.

 

**FILLED REQUESTS:**

  * **Lost Dog** \- GEN - T-  Papyrus  & Doggo friendship - zefive **[(Chapter 2)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10135802/chapters/23294980)**
  * **War Preparations** \- GEN - T - Empress Undyne Angst - Randomcat1832 - **[(Chapter 3)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10135802/chapters/23546442)**




	2. Lost Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For zefive.  
> Doggo has a very, very strange day.
> 
> CHARACTERS: Papyrus & Doggo  
> WARNINGS/TAGS: Hurt/Comfort, Recreational Drug Use, Smoking, Tobacco Use, Bad Habits, Don't Do This At Your Next Hotel Visit, Potentially Confusing Descriptions, Hypothermia, How Did I Turn This Nice Prompt Into A Paranormal Thriller Pilot Episode, What Even Is This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh. This happened. I had a little too much fun with Doggo's vision and playing around with the mythos I already had in place for another WIP. I dunno what this is.
> 
> Don't read it.

It wasn't the first time this has happened, but that only managed to make him angrier at himself. 

 

Doggo had seen  _ something  _ moving through the woods. What it was likely didn't matter now, besides the slight pit in his gut telling him that whatever it was was probably closer to him now than anyone or anything else. He'd pursued for quite a distance and gotten himself turned around somewhere along the way. He could have been a few feet from the main road for all he knew, now. Or… he could have been miles out. 

The dead tones and static on his phone when he attempted to report in to Undyne indicated the latter was more likely. 

Damnit. 

Doggo was usually able to keep himself to the road, and had a personal policy of not pursuing anything that seemed to be moving too fast or too far from the path. He could sometimes retrace his steps, and, if heading deeper out into the woods was necessary, he had his methods of getting back. A chase was different. The lack of planning would catch up with him; it always did. 

So now here he was, in the middle of the woods, cold, wet. He'd crossed the river, which meant he could be anywhere. He might have been miles away. It was nearly impossible to determine a direction to head in. With effort, he tracked his footsteps back until he found a completely tamped down area he had crossed, and the trail was lost. 

That was it. He couldn't find where it picked back up again. It was hard to smell anything. The snow didn't carry scent well. And frankly, that sense of his was pretty dulled down for a dog, not that he usually cared too much about losing it. 

 

…He didn't even have a treat on him. 

 

So he just laid down. For a bit. He was getting upset and that wasn't him and he needed the breather. He needed to think and… He was shivering. Damn. Why did he even think it was a good idea to cross the river? One step in and he should have turned the other way. He usually didn't get cold. He had fur. But getting wet and staying exposed to the elements was not a good idea for any monster. Not even a dog with his pedigree of cold-resistance. 

 

He fidgeted with his lighter. He figured he could build a fire and warm up, maybe signal with it, but the thing wasn't working. It wouldn’t even spark. He was either shaking too much to get a good click, or he'd damaged it somehow. 

He threw it away after what may have been the hundredth attempt. 

Stupid thing. 

 

…Doggo didn't know any kind of fire magic. He had just lost the only hope he had of warming up without it. 

…stupid dog.

 

He would just have to wait until someone came looking for him… but he felt the realization creep up his spine, along with a chill that was all natural, that maybe no one would. He wasn't even sure who would notice he was gone. Not until it was too late… 

He had… hours, _m_ _ aybe. _ Then… 

 

Sitting there in the snow, against a large tree to protect against the mild but constant breeze, Doggo whimpered lightly to himself as sensations dulled and thoughts froze along with the rest of him.

 

 

* * *

Something jostled him awake.

 

Doggo tried to shout, or bark, but whatever came out instead was a sound of pure panic, like a whimper at great volume, a squeak, a yip, the kind of sound a scared puppy makes, not a respectable sentry. He didn't care. He had more to worry about than his image.

 

He was disoriented, terrified, and just barely awake. 

 

It felt like he was falling, but it didn’t  _ stop. _ There was no impact. He never felt the ground. He didn’t feel anything else and that just made it all the more disorienting. He could tell he was moving, but he couldn’t tell where he was. He was moving too fast and against his own will, and couldn’t adjust what movements he was seeing for what he was feeling. 

He tried to thrash, but he was too weak. Still, something shifted and it felt like he was being tugged, falling in a new direction before finally something in it all equalized and he was left suspended. He instinctively held his breath, body rationalizing the feeling as if he had ended up in the middle of Unfrozen Lake. He realized just as quickly that he was still in the air, however, and gasped for breath. A mistake. Too cold. He panted in his panic but that only made it worse.

 

_ Where was he? What was **happening?** _

 

He’d stopped, but something moved in front of him. A figure. A human? A monster? Something else entirely? He wasn’t sure. His uncertainty brought back a memory of the very thing he'd been chasing, and though the movements and form were very different, he couldn't completely ease the additional fear that thought caused. The _thing_ was… waving… or something. Gesturing? It was accompanied by sound, he realized, but he was having trouble processing it.

 

“D… GG… OGG…. DOGGO?? C...N… H… R… M…EE??? DOGGO???”

 

His name. 

There was something else in the garble but that didn't get picked up, and that didn't matter.

He could only whimper in response.

 

“...M S... S…RREE… ...NKING. PLEASE NOD … C… N ….STAND??”

He shook his head, but became unsure of what the question had been, and attempted to shrug instead. 

 

 He couldn't speak. He could barely hear. His sense of smell seemed stifled (his nose was blocked up, he realized, the makings of an illness he would enjoy for the next few days even if he did survive this ordeal)  His sense of gravity was completely astray. He couldn't feel a thing.

The only sense left untouched was sight, and Doggo had always been blind. 

 

He was scared, confused, and he needed something. He needed to hear something, smell something,  _ feel something _ , and so Doggo thrashed as much as he could, though that was not a lot. He was cold, and he was weak, but he was just scared enough to fight unconsciousness. 

He found nothing to latch onto… 

…until he felt a hand. Bones beneath thick fabric, something _wrong_ with the shape of them, but a hand nonetheless, one with a grip that was surprisingly sturdy. It was something to ground him. 

 

“S… RRY” was what he could make out, before an explanation of some kind he was already fading too quickly to hear. Whatever had been happening before, it stopped happening. He became aware of something loosening, a grip, a tightness in his soul. It didn't go away, but it was no longer as constricting. He hadn't realized it was there until it started to go slack, and with it, gravity seemed to make some sense again, and his panic quickly gave way to exhaustion. 

 

He still felt lighter than he should have when he felt himself being held by a thin arm, the hand in his paw readjusting. 

He was being carried, and though normally the thought was an embarrassing one, the only thing to process in his mind was the knowledge that he was not alone, and whatever was with him was benign. 

The hand from earlier pet his head softly and everything else dulled down to nothing once again.   
  


* * *

 

When Doggo awoke, he was unsure of exactly where he was. 

He could tell he was in a bed, one more comfortable than his own.  The smell was unfamiliar… but nice. Perfumed sheets, or a scented candle burning somewhere nearby. Another room, probably. Something fancy he wouldn't normally seek out, but a nice addition to the atmosphere. It smelled like some surface scientist's approximation of pine, tinting the scent of nearby laundered linen. There was bleach and another disinfectant somewhere in the mix, used recently, but it was faint and dulled by the others. Wafting somewhere above it all was a hint of cinnamon. The cinnamon was both distant and mouth-wateringly real.

Doggo soon realized he smelled something else, too, though he could not immediately place it, and as he became more aware, he recognized the presence of someone other than himself in the room, though at first he did not see them. There was movement, but only just barely. He wasn't sure what or who the other was. It was familiar, but not distinct. It wasn't until the other started rocking slightly, briefly, that he recognized the stranger as the tall skeleton who sometimes patrolled nearby his station, and the memories of the oddity he experienced before this came back. 

That had been strange. Definitely not an experience he ever wanted to repeat. 

At least he'd survived it.

 

Making some assumptions about the bed and its relation to the floor, the angle of his pillows and his distance from the skeleton, the other seemed taller than he should have been, doing something with his arms above his head. Tiny movements. He couldn't conceptualize their surroundings enough to figure out what was happening, but what he could make out of the others motions and stance spoke to confidence in his task. A slight sway, and it became a little more clear that the skeleton was standing on top of something sturdy. A chair, perhaps? They did seem to be indoors. 

 

Doggo waited until the skeleton's arms lowered, form and stance stabilizing, gripping onto something and lowering to where the floor seemed to be before he made a low grumble to grab the other's attention. 

 

“AHH!! DOGGO! YOU ARE AWAKE! HOW DO YOU FEEL? ARE YOU WARM ENOUGH?? DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH BLANKETS!?!?”

 

Right. The tall one was a talker once you got him alone. They normally weren't alone, so it took him by surprise for a moment. He nodded. “Yeah… I… I think I'm fine?” A little dizzy, actually, and while his nose was clear for the moment, it felt like that wouldn't last. Colds were quite literal for monsters, the name reflecting their most common cause. That's definitely what he'd be dealing with for the next day or two. That would be unpleasant, but not really his pressing concern. He'd had colds before. He hadn't had... _that._ “What happened?”

 

The skeleton tilted his head. “YOU WERE OUT IN THE WOODS. I… think you may have gotten lost?” The other lowered his volume for that, a gesture Doggo appreciated. “BUT NOT TO WORRY! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM A MASTER TRACKER!” The skeleton (Papyrus, was it?) was striking some kind of pose. Doggo didn't quite know what to follow that up with, which was apparently taken as a need for further explanation. “I FOUND YOU!”

 

Doggo grumbled. This probably warranted a thank you, but he wasn't quite there yet. “Something happened between me passing out and waking up here. I was awake for a little while but… what  _ was _ that? Were you there? I felt bones. Your hands. And what's–”

 

“AH! YES! I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO HEAR ME BACK THERE.  I GUESS NOT? NOT TO WORRY! I'M USED TO THAT!” The skeleton started rocking slightly. He'd been playing with his hands since Doggo mentioned them but the fidgeting seemed to pick up speed and purpose as the skeleton spoke. Doggo couldn't help but watch. “Uh. I MEAN, YOU WEREN'T DOING VERY WELL. SO I DO UNDERSTAND WHY YOU COULDN'T HEAR ME?”

He perked up and the hand thing stopped for just a moment. The skeleton seemed to realize he hadn't actually explained. “I USED MY MAGIC ON YOU! I DIDN'T THINK IT THROUGH. I'M SORRY. I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WOULD WANT TO BE CARRIED AND YOU WERE IN A VERY DELICATE STATE! I WAS WORRIED ABOUT HURTING YOU BY LIFTING, BUT I THINK MY METHOD MADE THINGS WORSE...”

 

“What kind of magic _was_ that?”

 

“GRAVITY MANIPULATION!!! I WAS TRYING TO… ERR…  _ FLOAT _ YOU BACK. ESSENTIALLY. IT'S A BIT COMPLICATED! BUT WHEN YOU WOKE UP YOU PROBABLY HAD NO WAY OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO YOU. I IMAGINE THAT WAS VERY SCARY AND I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE CONSIDERATE.” The fidgeting picked up speed again as the monster played with his mittens “I WASN'T REALLY THINKING. YOU WERE JUST… IT WAS FASTER AND YOU WERE ALREADY… UM. ALREADY… _NOT GOOD.”_

 

Right… so, gravity manipulation. He'd never even heard of that. That was… 

“Do me a favor, and never, ever use that on me again,” Doggo said with a growl, but when he saw the way the skeleton shrunk in on himself, his tone relented. “but _thank you._ I wasn't getting home on my own. Speaking of… where am I? This isn't home.”

 

“YOU WEREN'T DOING WELL, SO I BROUGHT YOU TO THE INN!” he chirped. The inn doubled as an infirmary when needed, a single room always kept on reserve in case it became needed. Otherwise, the town had no clinic or dedicated healer. There was no call for it. The bunny sisters were decent healers and usually who people went to for emergencies. He didn't really think of this an emergency until now. It clearly was, though. “THEY WANT YOU TO STAY HERE FOR A FEW DAYS SO THEY CAN KEEP AN EYE ON YOU. NO CHARGE, THOUGH!”

 

“A few days?” The disappointment in his voice must have been obvious. The bed was great, and he was happy to be alive, but… the Inn had rules, and there was one in particular he was desperately craving to break. One that probably got him into this mess in the first place, thinking about it. He couldn't complain, but he wanted to. Oh well.

“You didn't see anything out there, did you?”

 

“NO? IS THAT WHY YOU WERE OUT THERE? DID YOU SEE SOMETHING?”

 

“Yeah. I may have imagined it though. It was moving… strangely. Not like anything I ever saw before. Fast, too.”

 

“WELL, THERE WERE NO OTHER TRACKS…” the skeleton looked around, as if checking to make sure the room was just the two of them. When he continued, it was barely above a whisper. His voice sounded strained. It didn't belong at such a low volume. “I did hear something. It was… not something I recognized… But I also sort of…  _ did? _ It made me nervous, so I went to see if someone else heard it, or if it was my brother playing some kind of practical joke. But… nobody was around. My brother never made it to work and you weren't at your station. My cell phone wasn't working and... then I saw the tracks leading into the woods. Undyne mentioned that you've gotten lost before, once, and so I forgot about the noise and wondered about you, instead! I… I feel a little better if you were chasing what I was hearing. I thought that  I was imagining things!”

 

“So, there's  _ something _ out there. But whatever it is probably long gone. Uh, you mentioned Undyne. Do you think you could do me a favor and–”

“I WON'T TELL HER. ABOUT GETTING LOST, I MEAN.  BUT SHOULD WE REPORT THE… the  _ thing?” _

 

Doggo considered it for a moment, then shook his head no. The action made his head hurt, stuffiness having worsened just a bit as they spoke. “What would we even report? A sound and a movement? I can't describe what it was I saw, just that it moved… _wrong._ And you can't describe what you heard, just that it was weird. Nah. Undyne wouldn't take that seriously coming from us. And then we'd have to explain what we did about it, and the rest of this mess.”

The other monster flinched more than a little at the “coming from us” line but made no protest, humming in thought as he twiddled his thumbs. 

“I'll keep an ear out if you keep an eye out. If it happens again… it'll have to deal with the two of us.” 

Normally, Doggo couldn't see smiles. Facial expressions were much too subtle. His fellow sentry, however, smiled with his whole body. 

 

After a few moments of mostly comfortable silence, the skeleton continued playing with his hands as if in thought, facing away. He seemed to come to a conclusion with a pause. Standing up rod-straight, the skeleton reached into what was presumably a pocket and pulled something out in an exaggerated fashion. Doggo smiled at the action. His rescuer was trying to make sure he saw whatever he was up to. He was putting on a show of whatever it was.

The skeleton walked over to the bed and placed something in Doggo's paw, two distinct objects he recognized the feel of instantly. He let out a very loud bark before he could even stop himself, tail trying to wag beneath him. He stopped himself from barking again, but only barely. 

 

“I UM… I KNOW IT MAKES YOU _HAPPIER_ WHEN YOU HAVE THESE SO…” the skeleton explained, shuffling his feet in nervousness but still standing proudly overall, “I DISABLED THE SMOKE ALARM ALREADY. BUT DON'T WORRY! I’M GOING TO PUT IT BACK BEFORE I LEAVE!”

 

Doggo had to stop himself from panting in all of his excitement. He felt at the lighter. It definitely wasn't his old one. That was probably in the possession of the thing in the woods, now, but the new one felt nice, with little textures carved into one side, and a smooth surface on the other. He rubbed at it between his paws a bit, calming himself down enough to feel ready to speak.

“Wow. Thank you! Papyrus, right?”

The skeleton shifted his weight from his balls of his feet to the very tips of his toes, leaning forward enthusiastically. That there was all the answer he needed to know he'd gotten it correct.  Just like a pup, the other monster loved to hear his own name. “RIGHT!!! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU KNEW MY NAME! MOST PEOPLE… MOST PEOPLE JUST FORGET IT.”

Well, that was… really sad. _Papyrus_ had always been a bit off to the side, out of the pack. Really, he seemed almost shy a lot of the time even as he tried to make his presence known. It made sense that perhaps people would overlook him. But this monster saved his life, and sure, scared him half to death when he was already almost there, but saved him regardless. And he brought him treats!!  As far as Doggo was concerned, the eternal question of who was a good boy had at last been answered. 

 

“You saved my life, Papyrus. I won't ever forget about that.”

“W-wELL… TH-THANK YOU. IT… I… I’M REALLY GLAD YOU’RE OKAY!!”

Doggo gave him a grin, one that was just as much in anticipation of smoking as it was in gratitude. He couldn't wait anymore, lighting up the treat and laying back into the propped up pillows. 

 

All was right with the world. Doggo could finally relax. 

 

He lost a little track of time before noticing his new companion pacing a bit near where he assumed the door was, if he remembered the layout of these rooms correctly. Papyrus always seemed like the goody type who worried a lot about rules and regulations. It made sense he was nervous and keeping guard. It just made the fact that he'd done him this favor even more appreciated. 

He really did look nervous, though. He always seemed so nervous...

 

“Hey, pup,” Doggo began, getting the other's attention. He held out the half finished treat. “Do you want to try?”

That startled him. 

“M-ME? N-NO I COULD NEVER. I WOULD NEVER. IT'S YOURS, ANYWAY!”

 

“I’m offering because I want to share. You did a lot for me today. I wanna return at least some of the favor. But don't feel pressured, either. I know it's not for everyone.” He felt the metal object in his other paw, the ridges on the side. It really was a unique piece. Probably custom from one of the specialty shops in the capital. That, or one hell of a dump find. “This is your lighter, isn't it?”

Oh, that was a guilty visage. “...FOR  _ CIGARETTES. _  YES. NO ONE KNOWS, SO PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE! MY BROTHER WOULD THROW A FIT!”

“Hey, your brother can go ahead and smoke the wrong end. It's your business. Not his,” Doggo replied without even thinking about it. He wasn't much a fan of the other skeleton, and he wasn't a fan of his new pal being worried about something that, as far as Doggo was concerned, was entirely benign.

 

The other monster chucked almost inaudibly, and relented. “I'LL… PASS. FOR NOW! I HAVE TO REPORT IN TO UNDYNE SOON FOR TRAINING AND... SHE'LL NOTICE IF I'M OFF. PROBABLY. ...MAYBE NOT.” Doggo nodded. "BUT MAYBE... MAYBE ANOTHER TIME. I... UM... I COULD USE A SMOKE THOUGH. IF THAT'S OKAY?"

Doggo smiled, scooting over and making room for his new friend to sit next to him on the bed, and patted it. He heard the skeleton light up with fluid, practiced movements, hands seemingly only confident in motion. Papyrus took a long drag, and for the first time that Doggo had witnessed, the skeleton seemed to just  _relax._  

Neither said anything after that, just comfortable silence.

 

Doggo eventually drifted off, tired, sick, and with a comforting warmth nearby. His new companion was gone when he woke back up. He left the lighter behind, an unspoken promise that he'd be back for it.   
  


He grinned, feeling it in his paws.

 

It had been... an odd day, to say the least. Weird as all get out and more than a little scary, and it could have ended very, very differently. Yet it hadn't. Sure, he had a hell of a cold, was stuck in the Inn for a few days, had seen some sort of unknown being lurking the woods next to his station, got tossed around like a ragdoll, and nearly died, but... he also made a new smoking buddy.

  
He'd chalk this day up as a good one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I'm working on all requests, but things are going a bit slow. Requests are still open, but I need to start pushing these back towards "drabble" and away from "pilot episode."


	3. War Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Randomcat1832  
> The Underground mourns, and the Empress prepares for War.
> 
> CHARACTERS: Undyne, Mettaton, Alphys, Sans  
> WARNINGS/TAGS: Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death(s), Mourning/Grief, Suicidal Ideation, Guilt, Drabble Scenes, Fictional Political Issues, Neutral Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had trouble with this one until I decided to do each scene as a 100 word drabble, and then it all mostly came together. Sansangst hour was originally longer than this entire chapter, but I think this has more impact.

The throne room rarely saw use since Asgore’s death. It had been his in every way, from the throne that dwarfed any other who might try to claim it, to the golden flowers which he had lovingly cultivated, a memorial to his losses, his tragedies. The room was so utterly Asgore in a way that his own home wasn't, in a way even his kingdom wasn’t.

Rather than wilt, the flowers had found a new zest for life without him, growing in uncontrollable chaos like weeds without their king to tame them.

 

Undyne came here when she needed to remember.

 

* * *

 

Undyne didn't _want_ to rule.

Undyne wanted to lead.

 

She had lost her king and her apprentice, her friend and her father. How many other stories ended the same way and simply hadn't reached her? The streets seemed just a little emptier now. Every loss was felt.  

Undyne wanted revenge. She dreamed of nothing less.

Undyne wanted to lead an army the likes of which the surface had never seen, straight into the heart of the human stronghold! They would take back the surface! They would take back the sky!

 

And yet, maddeningly, she needed patience.

Undyne _needed_ to rule.

 

* * *

 

Sans hadn’t decided where to spread Papyrus’s dust. It was confined to a jar he’d found in the kitchen, the perfect way to delay any decision. Papyrus would have hated the procrastination, it was tantamount to purgatory, but it was one offense against his brother that Sans was willing to allow.

Eventually, he would get to it.

Eventually he would allow Papyrus to rest.

Eventually he would let go.

But Eventually was not today, and it wasn’t quite visible on the horizon just yet.

 

No resting spot seemed quite great enough for the greatest man the world had ever known.

 

* * *

 

Mettaton had scarcely seen or heard from Alphys since his repairs. Undyne had her working around the clock. One can’t fight a war without access to the battleground, after all. The few times he had seen her, she was so stressed and withdrawn. Something was weighing her down, but Mettaton was “not permitted” to know what.

He missed his friend.

Perhaps even more, he missed what the Underground had been. Everyone was either eager for a fight, or had no fight left at all.  They barely resembled his beloved fans.

Nothing felt the same.

_But the show must go on…_

 

* * *

 

Alphys spent almost as much time working as she spent paralyzed with guilt. New initiatives meant greater scrutiny, and it felt like any day, any second, someone would find out. Someone would know. About the monsters in the basement, the plan, aiding the human…

The consequences… she couldn't be sure what they would be, but they would be much harsher than her oldest, darkest fears. Asgore would have been kind. _Maybe,_ Undyne _would have_ _been_ kind, but time had moved on.

Everything had changed.  


Alphys threw herself into her work…

…and resisted the urge to throw herself into her work.

 

* * *

 

Sans once stood vigil for hours at the Door, snow-covered, awaiting a reply, but that amazing laughter had gone silent. He couldn't bring himself to go there, now.

 

Now Sans spent all his time lazing about Hotland.  

There were no fond memories to haunt him, here. Few reminders. He didn't have to be the guy without a brother, here.

 

Hotland was loud. His boss was _louder._ Demanding. It was almost familiar. He needed that on days like today.

He looked up at the agitated robot looming above, (glitzy, showy, utterly ridiculous), and chuckled sadly.

“my bro was your biggest fan.”

 

* * *

 

 

Alphys could feel herself breaking.

 

She continued to ignore every letter, every phonecall, every knock. Undernet was no longer a refuge, the emptier feed another reminder of what she played accomplice to… yet the isolation was chipping away at her.

She was alone. ~~No one would care if she…~~

Alphys hated using the phone, but she couldn't go out. She couldn't leave.

Mettaton would be too busy. He wouldn't pick up. He wouldn't call back...

 

...yet he did.

 

Alphys cried as they spent hours just reminiscing, reaffirmations of friendship… and the plan. Neither had forgotten the sentiment behind the plan.

 

* * *

 

Rallying support for the war was his task. Propaganda had never really been Mettaton's style, but the empress didn't make _requests._

He was being offered his dream budget. It was a good deal.

 

But Mettaton remembered being intangible and small, waiting at his human fanclub for someone, anyone, to come. He remembered a girl with a dorky laugh, who smiled at his confessions, the movies, shows, cartoons they watched.

Mettaton sometimes forgot himself. It was easy losing sight beneath the spotlights… but he had _legs_ now. He had no excuse not to stand. He had weight.

He had a voice.

 

* * *

 

Undyne wanted to be angry.

 

Airwaves throughout the Underground should have carried the word of revenge, of rising up, of fighting back. Fervor and energy and hope. That’s what she’d _gotten,_ but it wasn’t what she’d _wanted._

 

The robot had gone rogue.

 

He spoke of peace, forgiveness, hope, compassion and love, and all of it was disgusting, as if movies and documentaries were enough to make up for the loss they had all felt, the pattern of loss they repeated over and over again.

 

She wanted to be angry, and she _was._ But this wasn't the anger she'd planned on.

 

* * *

 

Things were getting harder. The war effort was floundering.

Undyne feared she was losing control.

 

Asgore had done this for years, millennia, without faltering. No one could follow in his footsteps, not even her, but perhaps she could learn something, one final lesson he hadn’t already taught her.

She needed his lessons now more than ever.

 

Staring out into the golden sea, Undyne felt the slightest breeze pass through the room, barely perceptible. It was on this breeze that Undyne heard something: something small, something seemingly so very important.

Somewhere among the twisted, overgrown flowers, a voice whispered,

_“stay determined.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That didn't end quite how I'd planned, but I like it anyway.
> 
> This and The Kings Beneath The Mountain are going to be on the backburner for a bit as I work on a personal project, but this will likely get an update soonish since one of the others is almost done.


	4. The Kind Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the ficlets I'm working on to try to train myself back into writing mode. I'm posting it in here instead of on its own like I have been with a few of the stories because it's based on invalidopinion's Prison AU and no one really has the full context for it, so it feels weird to put it separate. Context isn't required!
> 
> CHARACTERS: Green Soul & Dr. Wingdings  
> WARNINGS/TAGS: Suicidal Themes, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Drug Use (could be read that way anyway), Children in Unsafe Situations, Second Person POV, Pre-Canon/Canon-Divergent, Dark Implications, Foregone Conclusions, Probably Not That Bad But Might As Well Warn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It only took me an hour to write this and i'm pretty proud of that.

You had to hide away. 

It wasn't that you wanted to! It was better for you to do so, but that wasn't the reason. It was better for them, too. You saw the interrogations your friends underwent. The guards were cruel and determined to catch you, and you were scared. Not of them, and not for yourself, but for what they might do to the friends you made, if one of them got too close to you, if one of them said the wrong thing. 

Monsters were not bad. 

You knew this immediately and implicitly the moment you arrived in the underground. The woman in the Ruins was kind and sweet and even though she warned you about so many things, you were not afraid of monsters. You were not afraid of Asgore or his plans…. But you were afraid of what could happen. Most monsters we nice. Most humans were nice. 

 

That did not mean they were incapable of bad things. 

 

You liked making friends, and yet because of circumstances, you were hiding from them. You didn't like to be in trouble. You were always taught to respect your elders, but you ran from Miss Toriel. You were taught to respect authority, but you knew authority was wrong here. So you broke rules. You hid. You ran. You never hurt, but sometimes you fought because you needed to. Because you weren't scared. You weren't! But sometimes monsters were scared of you. And you were scared of what would happen if you didn't fight back. If you didn't run. If you didn't hide. 

You knew things were not perfect. You couldn't just hug everyone's problems away. 

You were capable of doing things you didn't want to. You could have hit harder. You could have kept hitting. You could have stopped running, and hit, and hit, and hit.  You could have, but you didn't. That's because you made choices not to, and that's all anyone ever can do: choose their actions. 

Monsters and people were capable of being bad. They were just as capable of choosing good. 

You believed that, above all else, to be true.    
  


One day you saw a monster fall.  

You chose to stop hiding. 

 

He didn't dust when he landed, but he was not well. He mumbled just a bit but otherwise he was very quiet, and you weren't sure what to do, so you took him to the big white building you hid near, and you tried to sneak inside. You heard there was a doctor there, a doctor who was lonesome and scary and the other monsters didn't like, but maybe he would help this monster or maybe you could trade something, if kindness alone was not enough for the doctor. In a perfect world, it would be, but if it were a perfect world you would not have been there, because there would be no big white building, because no one would have to live away from the sunshine. 

But you didn't find the doctor, because he wasn't home. You looked for him, only to realize the doctor was already with you, broken in your arms. 

He wasn't scary like you thought he might be. He looked sad, even when he was sleeping. 

The doctor's house was empty. There wasn't much song, which was why you had hidden away near there in the first place. Sitting beside him in his sparsely decorated room, you realized of you had not seen him fall, no one would have.

 

The doctor was always alone.

 

It was an awful thought, one with more implications than you were willing to think about. You could choose to worry about such sad things, or you could choose to fix it! And you were going to fix it, of course! 

He had no friends, but you could be, if he wanted. You were a dangerous friend to have, but you could give him that choice, and until he could make the choice, you could make sure he was not alone, and you could help him recover from his fall. 

 

Monster food made monsters feel better, so food seemed like the answer. The problem was finding the food. The doctor's house seemed really empty! He didn't have much, even though he was a doctor, and (at least human) doctors were rich. You found some noodles and some coffee and lot and lots of pills you didn't recognize the names of, and while medicines might help, you were smart enough to know not to touch strange pills with weird labels in languages you couldn't read. 

He could take what he needed to when he woke up. He was a doctor. Medicine was his specialty (...probably?). For now, it was all on you, and your specialty was cooking!

You pulled out your own supplies, most you had gotten from the nice turtle who hid you from the guards for a while. He told you about his friend human he once met and when it was time to leave he gave you lots of weird monster fruits with a wink. (Later he told the guards he never met a human before, but that his memory was never too good. You could tell from his stories, though, his memory was very good.)

You could make… well, you honestly couldn't call it spaghetti, but beggars can't be choosers, and also you didn't know the names of any other noodle dishes so it might as well have been spaghetti!  You wished you could say it was delicious, but it was more like applesauce, chewy noodles and salt all mixed together in a pile that made you just do slightly nauseous.  You’d hoped the salt would make the crabapples less sour. It didn't.

 

The doctor woke up when you put the first spoonful in his jaw. He choked and coughed and you were so worried you had hurt him, but you weren't scared of how angry he looked when he saw you. You weren't scared because even though he was very mad, and he was looking at you, you didn't think he was mad at you, even though he could have been. 

You thought he seemed mad at himself, and that's what scared you. 

 

You weren't sure what you should do. He was quiet; you were quiet. He was a monster and you were a human and he had a reputation for being mean and you had a reputation for being much better not alive. 

So you made a decision to stop being afraid! 

 

You gave him a hug, and told him he was going to be okay. Because you were going to take care of him as long as he needed you!

He didn't say anything, not for a long, long time. Days, in fact, but they were not bad days, because he didn't fight you, and he didn't yell, and he didn't tell you to go away, and sometimes he let you feed him even though he wouldn't eat by himself. And he took some pills you didn't know the names of and he didn't look better but he didn't look worse, and even if there was always a ceiling above you, it was nice to hide away inside of a building with walls instead. 

 

A week passed. 

He didn't make you leave. 

 

One day, his expression softened when you brought over the bowl, and he took it from your hand, only to give it back to you with a shake of his head, and gestured that it was your turn to eat. 

You were very hungry, so you did eat for that day. Your cooking was getting a little better, or maybe you were used to the smell. 

He sat down across from you at the table, a look that was somewhere between clinical curiosity and kindness on his face, where nothing but sadness had been before. “My name is Doctor Wingdings,” he introduced himself at last. You’d known his name before that, of course, lots of monsters spoke it, but his offering it was much nicer. 

It was a nice name. 

You smiled back widely, and excitedly told him yours. 

 

He smiled for the first time that week, and that's when you knew you made a lifelong friend. 


	5. Voicemail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For an anon on tumblr, for my ficlet requests.
> 
> Characters: Sans & Frisk  
> Warnings: Implied Character Death(s), bad time, Soulless Pacifist

> _“heya._
> 
> _been awhile, huh?_
> 
> _it’s funny… pap said your mailbox was full, what’d ya do, block him? or you clear it finally?_
> 
> _heh._
> 
> _nevermind._
> 
> _tori’s been askin about you. alphys too. undyne. asgore. everyone, really. pap’s doin a great job, by the way. thought you’d wanna know he says it’s great. seems real happy. so uh… don’t worry about not takin up the ambassadorship. can’t blame you. heck, asgore probably shouldn’a asked. you’re a kid. you deserve to be a kid._
> 
> _but anyway, if you could call back, that’d be pretty great. it’d stop a lot of people from worryin.”_

* * *

 

***click***

* * *

> _“i uh… i called your school. they say you ain’t been in for a week. your fosters are worried. hell, everyone’s worried. tori went out to look for ya. told her it was a mistake. but… god, kid, cmon. if you’re gonna do this y’ could at least just…_
> 
> _pap told me trusts you… and i’m gonna trust him. okay? so. yeah, sorry._
> 
> _sorry._
> 
> _give tori a call, alright? let her know you’re safe. or at least unblock her. she thinks she did somethin wrong and we both know that ain’t true._
> 
> _have a heart and call, kid._
> 
> _thanks._
> 
> _later.”_
> 
>  

* * *

 

***click***

* * *

> _you’re given pap a real headache, you know that? he hasn’t slept in two weeks. not that he was sleepin much before with the start of the disappearences but now that your face is all over the news and the queen’s gone too, he’s had to deal with the press. it sucks to watch._
> 
> _gonna make you a deal._
> 
> _you’re getting these messages. i know you are. you’re being sneaky with it cording to alphys, but you are turning on the phone. we know._
> 
> _so, kid, i’ll meet ya at the mountain. guessin that’s what you want._
> 
> _…seeya soon, frisk._

* * *

 

***click***

* * *

 


	6. Grocery Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A request I did on Tumblr for georgetheblob! Never uploaded this because it was supposed to go along with another request, but I'd rather just have it up.

It was about a month after arriving on the surface that Undyne first went to a human supermarket. Groceries were something Alphys had made her responsibility, and Undyne hadn’t argued. Alphys liked doing it, and Undyne wasn’t all that picky. As long as she had her tea, she could eat whatever crap Alphys bought.

(Alphys bought a lot of crap.)

It was always something new and Undyne enjoyed the challenge of conquering new cuisines. She also let Alphys cook them. (“Let,” in this case, meaning Undyne was banned from the kitchen after the second fire.) While microwaveable meals were still a staple in their household, the instant noodles had been temporarily retired.

Therein lied the problem: They had no noodles.

No instant noodles. No pasta noodles. No soup noodles. No soup without noodles. None of it. Nothing. The one time Undyne needed noodles, there were none to be found, and Alphys was away on a science…  thing. The details were currently alluding her but the point was she on her own for 4 days and they had no noodles.

She needed noodles.

It was an emergency.

Undyne regarded the bright red convertible in front of her small home when she went out the door. Driving a car couldn’t be that hard, right…? They were fast. She needed fast. But… no, she was smarter than that. If she crashed, that would significantly slow her down, and she suspected there would be questions if she temporarily borrowed it without permission. Plus, she wasn’t really sure how to turn cars on.

She would just have to run!

Undyne raced down the road, outpacing at least a few cars and trucks. She’d made a good call! Those weak human vessels had nothing on her determination!

Cutting through the parking lot, Undyne rushed to the store, pausing only for a moment to discover the doors were electronic, not push doors. No matter, once it opened, she would rush in, demand the noodles be given to her, throw the wad of emergency human paper at the shopkeeper, and abscond! Then she would run back home. Easy-peasy; day saved. Undyne would be the heroine once again!

Only when the door finished opening after a maddening 2 second wait, Undyne rushed in only to find herself utterly speechless.

Oh.

It turned out grocery stores were very large.

She couldn’t even see the shopkeeper to tell at them.

The store was full of placid shoppers, meandering along at a frustrating snail’s pace, pushing carts, examining every box or jar or can they came across. Undyne grabbed for a cart, clearly a part of this terrible human ritual, but found the wheels were misaligned. The cart would only slow her down! This would take longer than she thought, which made getting in and out even more important.

Instead, Undyne ran up and down aisles aimlessly, picking things up and holding them to her chest with the other arm, practically overflowing. Occasionally one would drop, but Undyne saw it as a challenge to recapture them before they could escape to the floor. Vegetables, spices, as she passed, she picked up, but the hunt for the noodles proved a difficult challenge. Finally, in the last aisle left to check, pasta. Noodles. Soup. At last, her journey was nearing its end. She pulled whatever noodles looked… noodley enough, and ran with the pile of healthy ingredients to find the shopkeeper.

What she found instead was a row of cash registers, only two manned, each with an impossible line ahead of her.

“NGAAAAAHHH!!!!”

Undyne knew well enough what constituted laws on the surface… at least generally. She was once a keeper of the law, after all! Do yeah, probably roughly the same stuff: no killing, no stealing, no socks longer than 3 feet in length. Normal stuff. She got it.

So… fine! No stealing. If she paid for the noodles, it wasn’t stealing!

Counting out to “$200” of the emergency human paper (that seemed about right), she rolled it up and chucked it at one of the clerks, hitting the human square in the face. Then, Undyne lept over the line of human shoppers and machines.

“LISTEN UP, HUMANS. I NEED THESE NOODLES!!! IT’S AN EMERGENCY!!!”

Undyne charged through the doors as quickly as possible, squeezing through the second there was an opening, and ran home, using her spears to vault as much of the way as she could.

Later, Alphys would definitely inform her that she was banned from groceries. But for now, she had the emergency noodles, and she could endure any consequences!

**Author's Note:**

> UPDATE 7/14/2017: I'm trying to retrain myself to write after having gone on a brief hiatus, so prompts are still welcome, but currently, ficlet requests (theoretically shorter prompt fills) are being prioritized on my tumblr:  
> https://drundertalescum.tumblr.com/post/162468103388/ficlet-requests-open
> 
>  
> 
> UPDATE 3/12/2018 : These are still open but hahahahahahahaHAHAHAHHAHA yeah i don't think they'll get written within a year.


End file.
